Depersonalization in the Face of Life-Threatening Danger: An Interpretation
Russell Noyes, Roy Kletti
OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying July 1, 1976 DOI: 10.2190/7qet-2vau-ycdt-tj9r (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that depersonalization in life-threatening danger is an adaptive nervous system response that alerts the organism to threat while holding disorganizing emotion in check, defends the personality against death, and initiates integration of that reality. Proposes that a mystical elaboration of the phenomenon may achieve spiritual significance, potentially followed by a sense of rebirth. |
Abstract
Depersonalization is a frequent reaction to life-threatening danger. As an adaptive pattern of the nervous system it alerts the organism to its threatening environment while holding potentially disorganizing emotion in check. As a psychological mechanism it defends the endangered personality against the threat of death and, at the same time, initiates an integration of that reality. And, as a meaningful experience, a mystical elaboration of the phenomenon may achieve spiritual significance. This type of encounter with death may be followed by a sense of rebirth.
Citations in the library
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- The phenomenology of near-death experiences American Journal of Psychiatry October 1, 1980
- A prospective analysis of near-death experiences in cardiac arrest patients. Journal of Near-Death Studies 2002
- Neuroscience and the Near-Death Experience: Roles for the NMSA-PCP receptor, the sigma receptor and the endopsychosins Medical Hypotheses 1990
- The Subjective Response to Life-Threatening Danger OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying December 1, 1979
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